Talk given at the wedding Reception for : Syamsu Usman and Haryanti Neves.

Brothers and sisters, honored guests:

Assalamu alaikum rohmatullahi wa barakatuh. This moment when the marriage between my grandchildren Syamsu and Haryanti has been celebrated, is a very happy occasion.

Brothers and sisters, if one thinks about it, this is rather a special occasion, for one of these two is from Indonesia and the other from Lisbon. But nowadays such cases do not represent anything special, but are quite usual. Indeed, brothers and sisters, we human beings are all of one origin, and were originally all one, then became dispersed and are now united again. That is why this is not something special or out of the ordinary, but it is nevertheless also something unexpected. It is by the decree of Allah, which human beings cannot know, except by following and surrendering to His will wherever it may lead them.

Brothers and sisters, this is indeed something decreed by Allah, decreed by the One Almighty God. God has decreed that all creatures should marry and have a mate. Through marriage there occurs the multiplication of all that God has created, both in this world and in other worlds of the universe that we cannot know.

That is how it is, brothers and sisters, and so God wills that in marriage, especially human marriage, His creatures can continue their race and reproduce their kind. This is necessary in order for mankind to fill this world, as God wills, and so that the world can be properly cared for. That is the will of God for all the creatures that He has created. That is why marriage is an absolute condition for human beings which cannot be avoided. And also, brothers and sisters, marriage is a trial and a test for human beings, so that they can really demonstrate their worship of the One Almighty God, because God has created them to live in this world, and also so that through marriage people can understand and know the necessity for marriage and how it is necessary to live a family life, that is, to live as a community.

As Bapak said just now, marriage is like a test, it is like a training for those who marry, so that they can know and understand what it is like to live with a companion after having lived by oneself. That is why a wife really is like a companion, a comrade in the test. By being able to know how it feels to live in marriage, they will then be able to feel what is needed in their lives. If they are lucky, they will be able to know this, so that the conditions they experience will always be apparent in their lives.

This is why marriage is important, brothers and sisters, this is why marriage is necessary. Indeed, brothers and sisters, in the ordinary way, marriage is a pleasure, so that many people do not think about it or train themselves to feel that married life is a time or period of life in which they can see how their lives will subsequently be.

For that reason and chiefly to shorten the time ( of Bapak’s talk ) our grandchildren Syamsu and Haryanati, who is now his wife, should sincerely do as Bapak has said and intertwine their lives with their worship of the One Almighty God. For it is through their diligence in carrying out their training in life and through the grace of the One Almighty God that the marriage between my grandchildren will be protected from all harm and from all temptation, so that they will always be safe and happy and will lack for nothing.

What they need to understand and realize is that they must give and take, love one another, and be willing to give way to one another. For by giving way to one another and loving one another, they will always experience conditions of peace in their marriage, and that peace will be an open road along which wealth and position can come to them, as well as happiness. In this way my grandchildren will always feel quiet and peaceful, and if it so happens that by the grace of God they have children, then these children will really be something that they can be proud of.

That is Bapak’s prayer and perhaps all the guests present tonight will also pray that the marriage of my grandchildren may obtain the grace of the One Almighty God, and may al1 they hope for be granted to them. And also may God bless them with a long life, until they are a grandfather and grandmother, and furthermore may they be able to have descendents who are an example to the public and who are really useful to this world, and especially to their nation.

That is all. Thank you. Assalamu alaikum rohmatullahi wa barakatuh.